The Tulane BIRCWH program is dedicated to promoting research and the transfer of findings to promote Women's Health by promoting research independence among junior researchers. In order to improve the quality and increase the quantity of Women's Health research, Tulane BIRCWH proposes to bridge the period between advanced training and research independence, as well as link professions, scientific disciplines, and areas of interest for selected scholars. The common theme running through out the various research areas is interdisciplinary research on cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and renal disease. The short-term objectives of the Tulane BIRCWH Program are to recruit an outstanding and diverse group of junior faculty members who are interested in and committed to research careers in Women's Health;bridge the gap between advanced training and research independence;increase the pipeline leading to an independent interdisciplinary scientific career;ensure, in a thoughtfully mentored setting, the necessary protected time for both didactic learning and research training such that the program will ultimately produce exceedingly competent junior faculty members who will achieve research independence;increase the number of academic publications, scientific presentations and grants with a focus on women, CVD and risk factors, generated by Tulane BIRCWH Scholars and HSC;increase the quality and quantity of women's health related research that integrate basic science, clinical research, translational research, population studies, behavioral and social research;and enhance the dynamic collaboration between basic science and clinical research at HSC by promoting an escalating interdisciplinary focus on Women's Health. The long-term objectives of the Tulane BIRCWH Program are to increase the number of skilled, independent interdisciplinary investigators with a focus on sex, gender and Women's Health research;promote, through the BIRCWH Program's illustration, the awareness of the need to ensure a strong pipeline when fostering independent researchers and the advantage of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary clinical and translational research efforts;promote collaborations with traditionally non-research focused entities;establish institutional and individual renown both nationally and internationally for the BIRCWH Program's findings on CVD and Women's Health and improve the cardiovascular health of Louisiana women across the lifespan, particularly African American women, by effectively training the next generation of conscientious, culturally competent and independent academic Women's Health researchers.